When a retarding mechanism and a body suspended therefrom are launched from an aircraft, dispenser or missile at high speed, deployment of a decelerator may cause a severe shock due to a sudden retardation. A collapsible decelerating mechanism such as the one taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,341, copending herewith, to be issued to the present inventor, provides many advantages over prior art retarding mechanisms. The inflatable decelerator described therein permits successful deployment at speeds from subsonic to supersonic, assures proper and fast inflation, and retains structural integrity. Following deployment, the retarding device provides deceleration and stabilization for the suspended body. The retarding device, from the moment of deployment and full inflation, functions also as a means of dispersing the suspended body. It is also highly desirable for certain launched or dispersed bodies to disperse over a wide area not attainable with prior art designs.
A dispensing means for deployment of bodies is commonly cigar-shaped, and rotates during dispensing. Consequently the pattern for coverage of a series of suspended bodies, using conventional retarding means, is doughnut-shaped. The doughnut shape is far from ideal, since a no-coverage opening exists in the center, and the circumference of the outer edge of the doughnut pattern is the limit of the coverage.
The present invention addresses the need in the art for broad and patterned coverage in bomblet or other aerially-released body dispersal.